DOCSLIB.ORG

Agent Orange VA Claims—Don't Forget the “Blue Water” Sailors

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Agent Orange VA Claims—Don't Forget the “Blue Water” Sailors LAW REVIEW 16010 February 2016 Agent Orange VA Claims—Don’t Forget the “Blue Water” Sailors By Captain Morgan Little, USN (Ret.)1 and Captain Samuel F. Wright, JAGC, USN (Ret.)2 11.0—Veterans’ claims Agent Orange is the nicKname for a tactical herbicide that was very widely used by United States forces during the Vietnam War.3 At the time, Agent Orange was thought to be benign with respect to its effect on human health, but over time it became clear that humans suffer major adverse health effects from exposure to this chemical through inhalation, ingestion, or exposure via the sKin. Individuals who have been exposed to Agent Orange have a much higher incidence of diabetes, prostate cancer, and other diseases and conditions, and these diseases and conditions often manifest themselves decades after exposure. Of course, it is also true that millions of humans who have never served a day in the uniform of this or any other country and who have not been exposed to Agent Orange have developed these common diseases and conditions, because of genetic predisposition or because of environmental or occupational exposure to other harmful agents. In an individual case, there is no way to distinguish a disease caused by exposure to Agent Orange in military service from a disease that the individual may suffer anyway without regard to having served in the U.S. military. The United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) administers the provisions of title 38 of the United States Code that provide for monetary compensation for injuries and illnesses incurred during or resulting from military service. Claims involving wounds and other injuries are generally straightforward—the individual’s service record usually shows contemporaneous evidence of the wound or injury, and it is possible (even decades later) for physicians to offer 1 BS, University of Arizona, 1964; MS, University of Arizona, 1966; MBA, Rider University, 1978. Little served in the Navy and Navy Reserve as a Surface Warfare Officer and retired in 1998. Little is a life member of the Reserve Officers Association (ROA) and has served in offices at the chapter, department, and national levels, including serving as Vice President for Naval Services in 2007-08. 2 BA, Northwestern University, 1973; JD, 1976, University of Houston; LLM, 1980, Georgetown University. Wright served in the Navy and Navy Reserve as a Judge Advocate General’s Corps officer and retired in 2007. Wright is a life member of ROA and served as the Director of ROA’s Service Members Law Center from June 2009 through May 2015. 3 An official U.S. Government website explains: “‘Agent Orange’ refers to a blend of tactical herbicides the U.S. military sprayed in the jungles of Vietnam and around the Korean demilitarized zone to remove trees and dense tropical foliage that provided enemy cover.” http://www.benefits.va.gov/compensation/claims-postservice- agent_orange.asp. informed judgments as to whether the individual’s ailments and disabilities can reasonably be attributed to the wound or injury suffered during military service. Occupational disease claims are inherently much more difficult. Because of the limitations of medical science and available evidence, it is not possible to conclude definitively that the individual’s prostate cancer in 2007 was caused by exposure to Agent Orange during military service in Vietnam in 1969. The individual may have a genetic predisposition to prostate cancer. The individual may have been exposed to carcinogens before or after his military service. It will likely be impossible to prove from blood or urine tests performed four decades after the alleged exposure that the individual was even exposed to Agent Orange while serving in Vietnam. The usual standard for adjudicating VA claims of this nature is “more liKely than not.” To get the claim approved by the VA, the individual must demonstrate that it is more liKely than not that the present disease or condition was caused by environmental exposure to a harmful substance while in military service. Applying the more liKely than not standard to Agent Orange claims will inevitably result in the denial of most of these claims, simply because of the limitations of medical science and available evidence. In 1991, Congress made a policy judgment that it is better to pay VA claims for some Vietnam veterans who have diseases or conditions that they may have suffered anyway, without regard to their military service, than to deny other claims of veterans who have those diseases or conditions because of Agent Orange exposure in military service. Because it is not possible to ascertain, in any specific case, that a veteran’s disease or condition was caused by Agent Orange exposure, Congress gave these veterans the benefit of the doubt. If an individual veteran served in the relevant place at the relevant time, it is presumed that he or she was exposed to Agent Orange. If the veteran now suffers from a disease or condition that has a demonstrated higher rate of incidence among persons exposed to Agent Orange, it is presumed that the disease or condition was caused by Agent Orange exposure in military service. Operation Desert Storm (the liberation of Kuwait) began on January 15, 1991, after Saddam Hussein ignored the ultimatum to evacuate his troops from Kuwait and return the country to the Kuwaitis. As our country was dispatching a new generation of service members into combat, it seemed an opportune time to correct an injustice done to veterans from the last war, which had ended 16 years before. Accordingly, Representative G.V. “Sonny” Montgomery4 4 Representative Montgomery was a World War II Army veteran, and he attained the rank of Major General in the Army National Guard and as Adjutant General of Mississippi. In 1991, he was the Chairman of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs and was Known as the “godfather” of many great laws for veterans and Reserve Component personnel, including the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA), which was enacted in 1994. Representative Montgomery was also a life member of the Reserve Officers Association (ROA). He retired from Congress in 1996 and passed away in 2005. of Mississippi introduced the proposed “Agent Orange Act of 1991.” The bill proceeded through the congressional process with amazing alacrity. It passed the House of Representatives on January 29 and the Senate on January 30. On February 6, 1991, President George H.W. Bush signed the bill into law.5 The Agent Orange Act added a new section to title 38 and amended several existing sections. The gist of the Act is set forth in that new section, as follows: (a) (1) For the purposes of section 1110 of this title, and subject to section 1113 of this title,-- (A) a disease specified in paragraph (2) of this subsection becoming manifest as specified in that paragraph in a veteran who, during active military, naval, or air service, served in the Republic of Vietnam6 during the period beginning on January 9, 1962, and ending on May 7, 1975; and (B) each additional disease (if any) that (i) the Secretary determines in regulations prescribed under this section warrants a presumption of service-connection by reason of having positive association with exposure to an herbicide agent, and (ii) becomes manifest within the period (if any) prescribed in such regulations in a veteran who, during active military, naval, or air service, served in the Republic of Vietnam7 during the period beginning on January 9, 1962, and ending on May 7, 1975, and while so serving was exposed to that herbicide agent, shall be considered to have been incurred in or aggravated by such service, notwithstanding that there is no record of evidence of such disease during the period of such service. (2) The diseases referred to in paragraph (1)(A) of this subsection are the following: (A) Non-HodgKin's lymphoma becoming manifest to a degree of disability of 10 percent or more. (B) Each soft-tissue sarcoma becoming manifest to a degree of disability of 10 percent or more other than osteosarcoma, chondrosarcoma, Kaposi's sarcoma, or mesothelioma. (C) Chloracne or another acneform disease consistent with chloracne becoming manifest to a degree of disability of 10 percent or more within one year after the last date on which the veteran performed active military, naval, or air service in the Republic of Vietnam during the period beginning on January 9, 1962, and ending on May 7, 1975. (D) HodgKin's disease becoming manifest to a degree of disability of 10 percent or more. (E) Porphyria cutanea tarda becoming manifest to a degree of disability of 10 percent 5 Agent Orange Act of 1991, Public Law 102-4, 105 Stat. 11. The citation means that this was only the fourth Public Law enacted during the 102nd Congress (1991-92). You can find this act in Volume 105 of Statutes at Large, starting on page 11. 6 The “Republic of Vietnam” was the official name of South Vietnam. 7 Applying U.S. domestic law and international law, the “Republic of Vietnam” included the territorial sea of that nation. LiKe most of the world’s nations, then and now, the Republic of Vietnam claimed territorial waters extending 12 miles from the nation’s shoreline. or more within a year after the last date on which the veteran performed active military, naval, or air service in the Republic of Vietnam during the period beginning on January 9, 1962, and ending on May 7, 1975. (F) Respiratory cancers (cancer of the lung, bronchus, larynx, or trachea) becoming manifest to a degree of disability of 10 percent or more. (G) Multiple myeloma becoming manifest to a degree of disability of 10 percent or more.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Fact Sheet 8: the Use of Defoliants – Agent Orange
    Fact Sheet 8: The use of defoliants – Agent Orange A highly controversial aspect of the Vietnam War was the widespread use of herbicides by the United States military. These chemicals caused the leaves of trees in the jungle to die. This made it easier to detect enemy positions and activities, especially from the air. Crops were also sprayed to deprive the enemy of food. These chemicals included the ‘Rainbow Herbicides’ – Agent Pink, Agent Green, Agent Purple, Agent Blue, Agent White and, most famously, Agent Orange. The US Air Force sprayed approximately 75 million litres (of which Agent Orange accounted for about 45 million litres) of concentrated herbicides, affecting an estimated 13% of South Vietnam's land. Humans exposed to Agent Orange were at risk of poisoning. Some estimates suggest that there were as many as 4 million victims of dioxin poisoning in Vietnam. Veterans of the war observed an increased risk of various types of cancer, while birth defects among their children were cited as evidence of the long-term harm caused by Agent Orange. The US government denied any conclusive scientific links between Agent Orange and health problems experienced by those exposed. In 1984 US veterans obtained a $180 million settlement from companies which produced Agent Orange. A small trust fund for New Zealanders who had been exposed was established as part of this settlement, but the fund was exhausted before the health problems of many veterans became apparent. The New Zealand government initially stated that no New Zealanders were deployed in areas where defoliants were used. A 2001 report found no evidence that exposure to defoliants had affected the health of veterans' children, although it did bring new evidence of exposure.
    [Show full text]
  • Agent Orange Review
    Agent Orange Review Vol. 9, N0. 3 Information for Veterans Who Served in Vietnam September 1992 National Academy of Sciences Project Secretary Edward J. Derwinski Advances on the Agent Orange Issue: VA was cast as the enemy of the veteran. VA had absolutely no credibility on this issue. The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is making Finally, in recent months, substantial progress on the Agent Orange project undertaken on we began to defuse much of the behalf of VA early this year. NAS officials have been gathering criticism and suspicion by herbicide literature from VA (including VA's 18-volume granting service connection for literature review) and other sources, making contact with conditions science tells us may scientists and other interested parties throughout the country, have been caused by exposure to and assembling a committee of experts to complete the project Agent Orange--such as non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and soft envisaged by Congress in Public Law 102-4, the "Agent tissue sarcomas. Orange Act of 1991." We're still being criticized by some who think we haven't gone far enough, and by some who feel there's not sufficient scientific proof for the decisions we have made. The public reaction~and the general lessening of Initial Committee Meeting tensions~seems to indicate we're right. This may be an important lesson for VA... The NAS Institute of Medicine's Committee to Review Committee Membership the Health Effects in Vietnam Veterans of Exposure to Herbicides held its first meeting on June 26, in Washington, DC. The Committee is chaired by Harold Fallon, M.D., Chair The morning session, which was opened to invited guests and of the Department of Medicine of the Medical College of speakers, was devoted to providing Committee members with Virginia in Richmond, Virginia.
    [Show full text]
  • Hereinafter “IOM Agent Orange Review”]
    The Jerome N. Frank Legal Services Organization YAL E L A W S C H O O L January 18, 2014 BY ELECTRONIC MAIL Wesley T. Carter, Major, USAF Retired Chair, The C-123 Veterans Association 2349 Nut Tree Lane McMinnville, Oregon 97128 Dear Major Carter, On behalf of the C-123 Veterans’ Association, you have asked us to consider whether existing medical and scientific evidence satisfies the U.S. Department of Veterans’ Affairs (“VA”) legal standard for “actual exposure” to herbicide agents such that veterans who served on C-123 aircraft (also referred to as UC-123K) between 1972 and 1982, which were used to spray Agent Orange and other tactical herbicides in Vietnam, are eligible for presumptive service connection for disability compensation benefits. We are pleased to provide our legal opinion on this question. We conclude that existing evidence indicates that C-123 veterans satisfy the legal standard for “actual exposure” to tactical herbicides. These veterans are thus entitled to presumptive service connection for listed diseases. Because those veterans who served on C-123 aircraft formerly used to spray Agent Orange and other tactical herbicides can prove actual exposure, by law and regulation they need not demonstrate that they served in the Republic of Vietnam, nor are they required to present evidence bearing on “bioavailability” of herbicides, the duration or magnitude of their exposure, or any other criteria. Under existing medical and scientific evidence, service on C-123 aircraft used to spray Agent Orange satisfies the VA’s standard for actual exposure to herbicides. Thus, veterans who served on such aircraft and who have a disease listed as service-connected for exposure to tactical herbicides are entitled to disability benefits on that basis.
    [Show full text]
  • Self-Help Guide to Service-Connected Disability Compensation for Exposure to Agent Orange for Veterans and Their Families
    THE VVA SELF-HELP GUIDE TO Service-Connected Disability Compensation For Exposure To Agent Orange FOR VETERANS AND THEIR FAMILIES MAY 2016 TABLE OF CONTENTS Foreword ................................................................................................. 1 Introduction ............................................................................................. 2 What Is Agent Orange?................................................................................ 3 What Is “Presumptive” Service-connected Agent Orange Disability Compensation? ............................................................................ 6 How Do I Know If I Qualify for Presumptive Service-connected Agent Orange Disability Compensation? .......................................................... 7 What Is the Agent Orange Registry? ............................................................... 8 How Do I File a Claim with the VA for Presumptive Agent Orange Disability Compensation? ...........................................................................10 Is Presumptive Service-connected Agent Orange Disability Compensation Available to Surviving Family Members of a Deceased Vietnam Veteran? ................13 Is Presumptive Service-connected Agent Orange Disability Compensation Available to Biological Children of Vietnam Veterans Born with Certain Birth Defects? ...15 Is Presumptive Service-connected Agent Orange Disability Compensation Available to Incarcerated Vietnam Veterans? ...................................................16 What Other
    [Show full text]
  • Rainbow Herbicides/ a Brief History
    RAINBOW HERBICIDES: A Brief History and Impact “Tactical Herbicides” Vietnam and Southeast Asia 1965-1970 Developed for use by Vietnam Veterans of America Wisconsin State Council’s Toxic Exposure Committee & Education Team - Team Wisconsin Copyright © 2019 Preface The intent of this document is to: a) provide a brief history of the use of “tactical herbicides” in Vietnam and Southeast Asia, b) share the impact tactical herbicides have had on Veterans exposed to these chemicals in the U.S. as well as exposure to these herbicides during testing, storage, and shipping, c) the impact on personnel who dispersed the more than 11 million gallons of Orange herbicide, hereafter referred to as Agent Orange or AO, used from 1965 to 1971” (Perkins Studdard, 2017)1 and the long-term impact of those tactical herbicides on our Veterans who served in Vietnam and Southeast Asia during the dispersal period, and d) the impact tactical herbicides with dioxins have had on Veterans, their children, grandchildren, and future generations. The information provided has been gathered from articles, research, and stories shared by Veterans. Today marks 55 years since the beginning (1964-1975) of the U.S. combat role in Vietnam. According to statistics gathered by The U.S. Wardogs Association, Inc. from 1995 and 2000 census reports during the Vietnam Era: a) 9.1 million military personnel served on active duty, b) 8.7 million were on active duty during the war, c) 2.7 million Americans served in Vietnam, d) 3.4 million (including .5 million offshore) served in throughout Southeast Asia (i.e., Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, and Thailand), e) More than seven thousand women served in Vietnam - 83.5 percent were nurses, and f) 58,202 Americans were killed in action.
    [Show full text]
  • Agent Orange and the Vietnam Veteran
    Agent Orange And the Vietnam Veteran THE HISTORY OF AGENT ORANGE USE IN VIETNAM Background Agent Orange is the code name for one of the herbicides and defoliants used by the U.S. military as part of its herbicidal warfare program, Operation Ranch Hand , during the Vietnam War from 1961 to 1971. Vietnam estimates 400,000 people being killed or maimed, and 500,000 children born with birth defects . A 50:50 mixture of 2,4,5-T and 2,4-D, it was manufactured for the U.S. Department of Defense primarily by Monsanto Corporation and Dow Chemical . The 2, 4, 5-T used to produce Agent Orange was later discovered to be contaminated with 2, 3, 7, 8- tetrachlorodibenzodioxin , an extremely toxic dioxin compound . It was given its name from the color of the orange-striped 55 US gallon (200 L) barrels in which it was shipped, and was by far the most widely used of the so-called "Rainbow Herbicides ". During the Vietnam War, between 1962 and 1971, the United States military sprayed nearly 20,000,000 US gallons (75,700,000 L) of chemical herbicides and defoliants in Vietnam, eastern Laos and parts of Cambodia, as part of Operation Ranch Hand . The program's goal was to defoliate forested and rural land, depriving guerrillas of cover; another goal was to induce forced draft urbanization , destroying the ability of peasants to support themselves in the countryside, and forcing them to flee to the U.S. dominated cities, thus depriving the guerrillas of their rural support base and food supply.
    [Show full text]
  • Vietnamese Victims of Agent Orange and U.S.-Vietnam Relations
    Vietnamese Victims of Agent Orange and U.S.-Vietnam Relations Michael F. Martin Specialist in Asian Affairs August 29, 2012 Congressional Research Service 7-5700 www.crs.gov RL34761 CRS Report for Congress Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress Vietnamese Victims of Agent Orange and U.S.-Vietnam Relations Summary Since the end of the Vietnam War in 1975, there has been a gradual warming of bilateral relations between the United States and Vietnam, culminating in the appointment of the first U.S. ambassador to Vietnam in 1996 and the granting of permanent normal trade relations (PNTR) to Vietnam in 2007. Over the last three decades, many—but not all—of the major issues causing tension between the two nations have been resolved. One major legacy of the Vietnam War that remains unresolved is the damage that Agent Orange, and its accompanying dioxin, have done to the people and the environment of Vietnam. For the last 35 years, this issue has generally been pushed to the background of bilateral discussions by other issues considered more important by the United States and/or Vietnam. With most of those issues presently resolved, the issue of Agent Orange/dioxin has emerged as a regular topic in bilateral discussions. According to various estimates, the U.S. military sprayed approximately 11 million-12 million gallons of Agent Orange over nearly 10% of then-South Vietnam between 1961 and 1971. One scientific study estimated that between 2.1 million and 4.8 million Vietnamese were directly exposed to Agent Orange. Vietnamese advocacy groups claim that there are over 3 million Vietnamese suffering from health problems caused by exposure to the dioxin in Agent Orange.
    [Show full text]
  • 31295007099293.Pdf (1.120Mb)
    THE LONG-TERM EFFECTS FROM HERBICIDE USE DURING THE VIETNAM WAR by JEFFREY R. CRAIG A SENIOR THESIS in GENERAL STUDIES Submitted to the General Studies Council in the College of Arts and Sciences at Texas Tech University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of BACHELOR OF GENERAL STUDIES Approved DR. PAUL iiiPPINS 7 Department of Health, Physical Educatio and Recreation Chairperson of the Thesis C 'ttee _........ DR. JAMES RECKNER Department of History 7 / DR. dl(Ry ELBOW //Department of Geography Accepted DR. DALE DAVIS Director of General Studies May 1992 f) no ' ^' ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS JAZ^ HP< 111f- w I would like to thank the members of my Thesis Committee: Dr. Gary Elbow, Dr. Paul Knipping, and Dr. James Reckner for giving me their help and valuable time during this project. I would also like to thank Dr. Dale Davis, Director of General Studies, and Kay Caddel, advisor for General Studies, for their contributions. 11 TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES iv CHAPTER I. OPERATION RANCH HAND 1 The Ranch Hand organization 2 Military success 4 Herbicide information 5 Dioxin 11 II. THE ECOLOGY AND HERBICIDE USE 13 Inland forests 13 Mangrove forests 16 Wildlife 17 Government attitudes 18 NAS study 20 III. HUMANKIND AND HERBICIDE USE 22 NAS study 22 CDC studies 23 Ranch Hand study 25 International symposium 27 Legal Battle 28 IV. FINAL OBSERVATIONS 30 BIBLIOGRAPHY 33 111 LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES 1. Military Herbicides 6 2. Herbicide Composition 7 3. Herbicide Expenditures 9 4. Areas Treated With Herbicides 10 5.
    [Show full text]
  • Estimation of Exposure to Agent Orange and Other Defoliants Among American Troops in Vietnam: a Methodological Approach
    American Journal of Industrial Medicine 9:305-321 (1986) Estimation of Exposure to Agent Orange and Other Defoliants Among American Troops in Vietnam: A Methodological Approach Steven D. Stellman, PhD, and Jeanne M. Stellman, PhD Two pivotal problems in determining whether exposure to herbicides has caused disease in Vietnam veterans or their offspring are definition of which troops were exposed and extent of exposure. The DoD HERBS tape is the most complete publicly available record of herbicide spraying in Vietnam. It contains about 17,000 records consisting of coordi- nates of spray missions, dates, chemical agent, quantity and area sprayed, and mission purpose. We have developed a set of discrete and continuous indexes of probability of exposure to herbicides for individual veterans. These probability indexes are based on HERBS tape spray data and on locations and dates of service derived from a place-and- date matrix completed by the veteran. They can take into account a conservative estimate of environmental persistence of herbicide by using first-order exponential decay kinetics with an estimated half-life of dioxin. Mean values for the continuous exposure probabil- ity indexes were significantly greater among veterans judged to be exposed according to self-reported job titles and specific military experiences than among men judged unlikely to have been exposed. Probabilistic exposure indexes based on the HERBS tape for classification of likely exposure to herbicides in South Vietnam during 1965-1971 appear to be well suited for comparative classification of veterans and hence for use in epidemiologic studies. Key words: Agent Orange, phenoxy herbicides, TCDD, dioxin, Vietnam veterans INTRODUCTION The possible human health effects associated with the systematic spraying of large portions of South Vietnam with defoliating chemicals carried out by the United States during 1962-1971 are a matter of great public and professional debate and concern.
    [Show full text]
  • Selected Chemicals Used During Vietnam War. Agent Blue
    This PDF is available from The National Academies Press at http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=13026 Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans and Agent Orange Exposure ISBN Committee on Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans and Agent Orange 978-0-309-16247-0 Exposure; Institute of Medicine 158 pages 6 x 9 PAPERBACK (2011) Visit the National Academies Press online and register for... Instant access to free PDF downloads of titles from the NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES NATIONAL ACADEMY OF ENGINEERING INSTITUTE OF MEDICINE NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL 10% off print titles Custom notification of new releases in your field of interest Special offers and discounts Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the National Academies Press. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Request reprint permission for this book Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans and Agent Orange Exposure 3 SELECTED CHEMICALS USED DURING THE VIETNAM WAR This chapter discusses three groups of chemicals used by the US military in Vietnam. First and in greatest depth, the committee reviews the use of tactical herbicides, such as Agent Orange, which is the focus of this report. Second, some other chemicals used abundantly by the US military during the war—including such nontactical pesticides as malathion, and jet and diesel fuels—are described. Finally, Blue Water Navy and Brown Water Navy personnel were exposed to many chemicals that were needed to operate and maintain their ships. Exposure opportunity varied greatly with a sailor’s occupation, the class of ship, and the activity that required the use of the chemical(s).
    [Show full text]
  • Veterans and Bladder Cancer Webinar Part III: Navigating the VA System
    Veterans and Bladder Cancer webinar Tuesday March 1, 2016 Part III: Navigating the VA System for Veterans with Bladder Cancer Presented by Dr. Thomas J. Berger is a lifetime member of the Vietnam Veterans of America (the VVA), the founding member of the VVA chapter in Kansas City, Missouri where he served as a Navy corpsman in the 3rd Marine Corps Division in Vietnam. Following his military service and upon completion of his post-doctoral studies, Tom Berger held faculty research and administrative appointments at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas; the State University system of Florida in Tallahassee, and the University of Missouri-Columbia as well as program administrator positions in the Illinois Easter Seals and United Cerebral Palsy programs. After serving as chair of the Vietnam Veterans of America National PTSD and Substance Abuse Committee for about a decade, he joined the staff of the VVA national office as a senior policy analyst for veteran’s benefits and mental health issues in 2008. In 2009, he was appointed as executive director of the Vietnam Veteran’s Health Council, whose primary mission is to improve the healthcare of America’s veterans through education and information. I really appreciate the efforts by the Bladder Cancer Advocacy Network for putting this show on today, and I want to give my thanks to Dr. Taylor and Ms. Dimick for their contributions. So, one of the questions that came in over the course of our planning for this webinar was, “How many Vets are currently in the VA system being treated or being diagnosed from bladder cancer?” You can see in front of you that there’s approximately 3,500 vets diagnosed or being treated for bladder cancer each year in the VA, with a sizeable percent of those vets having non-invasive bladder cancer.
    [Show full text]
  • The History of Agent Orange Use in Vietnam an Historial Overview From
    UNITED STATES – VIETNAM SCIENTIFIC CONFERENCE ON HUMAN HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS OF AGENT ORANGE/DIOXINS MARCH 3-6, 2002 HANOI, VIETNAM THE HISTORY OF AGENT ORANGE USE IN VIETNAM AN HISTORIAL OVERVIEW FROM THE VETERAN’S PERSPECTIVE Summary DIOX2002-16 PRESENTED BY PAUL L. SUTTON, NATIONAL CHAIRMAN AGENT ORANGE/DIOXIN COMMITTEE VIETNAM VETERANS OF AMERICA, INC. SILVER SPRING, MARYLAND, USA MARCH 2002: UNITED STATES-VIETNAM SCIENTIFIC CONFERENCE ON HUMAN HEALTH AND ENVIROMMENTAL EFFECTS OF AGENT ORANGE/DIOXINS - DIOX2002-16 1 THE HISTORY OF AGENT ORANGE USE IN VIETNAM Background Much of South Vietnam is covered with very dense jungle vegetation. This dense vegetation was used as cover by the forces opposing the United States and South Vietnamese armies. One means of counteracting this tactic was the use of herbicides to kill and defoliate vegetation. Herbicides were widely used to destroy enemy cover, food crops and to clear United States base perimeters of vegetation. These chemicals were applied by airplanes(Operation Ranch Hand), helicopters, trucks, riverboats and individual backpacks. A variety of herbicides were used for these purposes. They included Agents Orange, Blue, Green, Pink, Purple and White. These names represent the color of the stripe on the barrel that was used to identify the herbicide. The most widely used of these agents was Orange. Agent Orange was a 1:1 mixture of the n-butyl esters of 2,4 ichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) and 2,4,5- trichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4,5-T). A byproduct contaminant of the manufacturing process for 2,4,5-T is 2,3,7,8- tetrachlorodibenzo-para-dioxin (TCDD), commonly referred to as dioxin.
    [Show full text]